In a freak occurrence, two key undersea cables that connect South Africa to the global internet have both been hit by separate failures – resulting in very slow internet speeds for some users since Thursday.

The South Atlantic 3/West Africa (SAT-3/Wasc) submarine cable, which links Portugal and Spain to South Africa, with connections to several West African countries along the way, has been hit by a breakdown near Libreville, Gabon, internet service provider Axxess reported this morning.

Meanwhile the West Africa Cable System (Wacs), which links South Africa with the United Kingdom, also along the west coast of Africa, saw an outage off the coast of Congo.

This has resulted in some South African internet users experiencing excruciatingly slow speeds since Thursday.

"The unusual and simultaneous dual cable break has resulted in customers, that are connected to Openserve’s global capacity clients, experiencing reduced speed on international browsing. International voice calling and mobile roaming has also been impacted," Openserve said in a statement on Thursday.

"Openserve appreciates the patience of all affected clients and their customers as undersea cable infrastructure repairs are complex and can be time consuming."

On Friday morning, internet service provider Afrihost told users that connections are being re-routed, but that it still had no estimate on when normal service would resume.

Network status update:Openserve earlier ascertained that the SAT3/WACS break is in the Libreville, Gabon, Vicinity and the WACS cable break has been isolated to the Congo between two repeater sites. Further tests are being conducted by the upstream provider. Updates to follow. pic.twitter.com/8CC7JVRgC1

Latest about Wacs (updated Friday 15h30)*

A second break has reportedly been found on Wacs - close to the UK.*

A ship is reportedly being loaded and will be dispatched to deal with both WACS and SAT-3 breaks over the weekend.*

The cable break near the Congo will be attended to this weekend. A ship is being loaded and will be dispatched to deal with both WACS and SAT-3 breaks. There has been no further update on the UK side break as yet.

Latest about SAT-3/Wasc (updated Friday 15H30)*

A ship is reportedly being loaded and will be dispatched to deal with both WACS and SAT-3 breaks over the weekend.*

The cable break near the Congo will be attended to this weekend. A ship is being loaded and will be dispatched to deal with both WACS and SAT-3 breaks. There has been no further update on the UK side break as yet.